Collected on this day...

Image above: European mistletoe specimen collected on Christmas Eve, 1883.Image below: Close up image of specimen label that reads: "a. purchased at Pittsburg market." It took me a while to decipher this handwriting. Note that Pittsburgh's official spelling was "Pittsburg" until 1911. The mistletoe was for sale for the holidays, likely imported from its native range in England.

Well, specimens don’t get much more festive than this! This mistletoe specimen (Viscum album) was purchased at a Pittsburgh market on Christmas Eve 1883 by John A. Shafer, who would become the museum’s first botany curator 16 years later. Mistletoes refer to many species in the genus Viscum, but traditionally referred to a species native to Europe, Viscum album. European mistletoe has a deep rooted cultural history, dating back to as early as ancient Greece, is a part of many legends and stories through human history, and remains a well-known holiday decoration today.

Did you know that mistletoes are parasitic plants? Mistletoes grow on the branches of trees (especially oaks), with specialized roots (called “haustorium”) that penetrate the host tree to obtain water and nutrients. Technically, most mistletoes are hemi-parasites, as they do have green leaves capable of photosynthesizing to some degree. How do they germinate high up on the branches of trees? They have evolved to produce berries which birds ingest, fly around, land on another branch, and poop a viable mistletoe seeds. Without the assistance of birds, the seeds would likely just fall to the ground.

Mistletoes are native to the United States, too. American mistletoe (Phoradendron leucarpum) is native to southeastern US states. The species has been harvested and sold in the US in Christmas traditions, similar to European mistletoe. The specimen pictured below was collected in South Carolina in 1968, found attached to several oak species.